Potato-planter.



No. 874,037. PATENTED DEG. 17, 1907.

E. G. SGHREIBER.

POTATO PLANTER. PPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 11,1907.'

2 SHEBTS-SHBRT 1.

No. 874,037. PATENTBDDBG.' 1v, 1907. E. G. SGHRBIBBR.

POTATO PLANTER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11,1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' m91 10 mmf a "HHMl w #ffrwfm Y 4,.; bei 4,7 4,6 44 d 46 4f i1 o EE 'di V u" Il da n2l" M 'UNITED STATES PATENT. onnron` ERNST e. SCHREIBER, yor HAMMOND, INDIANA.,

i Po'rAiroPLAN-rnn.

` To' all 'whom it may concern.'

a potato as it-passes throughztlie -wagon'body or compartment containing the supply of .4 Sinc'cfthe pieces fof "different cut potatoes. 'Inorder that these cups or buckets may be readily filled by the pieces orv fragments of potatoes during their transit through the wagon body, if I 'em loy a single chain, I prefer to `have the-bue ets or cups mountedA thereon in stagggred'relation.

or AqualitiesI of ipotatoes vary" somewhauvT` in size, it is' desirable to be able to adjustfor' buckets or cups of the feeding 'chain o1" vary the capacity or'mouth opening ofe'ach of the buckets or cups 'so thatundernofcircumstances "will any one receiveand hold more than a singlepiece. To carry out'this `idea I have-made-each of the buckets of two parts, each section being pivoted' and having gear teeth meshing with those of the other. The turning of either part on its pivot correspondingly turns the other, whereby an adjustment in the ca acity or size of the bucket may be secure vwithout varying 'the position of the -bucket as a whole, and I also provide meansv for maintaining the parts or sections of the buckets in' adjusted position. `Besides thefeeding chain or chains-with their buckets or cups, I-

use a'delivery chain with'similar receptacles or pockets which convey the pieces of potato downwardly and deliver them near the ground after having received them from the chains. By employing a construction of thischaracter the pieces of potatoy are delivered more `uniformly and exactly than'if they were allowed todrop from the buckets ofA thevv feeding chain, because they .are `dethe ground. f

livered or dropped comparatively near to v W 'ch passesasubstantiallyfvertical delivery specificaties uf Letten Patent. application am september 11,1907. semina. 392,345.

planters nds,y grades,

,Patented nec. 17, 19o?.

I have'illustrated my referred and most desirable embodiment of) the invention on the accompanying drawings, on which Figure 1 is a substantiall -central vertical longitudinal section through V the machine, the seat and Apole or Atongue `being partly broken away; Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe machine, .one wheel being omitted; Fig.' 3 is a vertical cross-section adjacent to the axle; Fi 4 is a section onv line L1*4 of` Fig. 1 on an enIarged scale looking in the directionindicated by the arrows; Figs. 5 and 6 are detail sectional views of the feeding chain and buckets; Iand Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 4 and shows a modified arrangement of the buckets whenva plurality of feeding chains is employed. t

Themachine illustrated onfthe drawings comprises a wagon body or supply compartment 10, a pair of carryingwheels 1l and 12, a seat 13, and a' ton' ue or pole 14. The body ,'lOhas a rearward y-inclined bottom-or floor 15 which directs the pieces of-cut potato to the rear endof the body where'they may be.

caught by the cups of the feeding chain and elevated,- as is obvious. Within or through an upstanding hood or-shiel 16 are -a mainaxle; 17 and a pair of transverse rota-y table shafts 18 and 19, each being provided with a sprocket Wheel 20, the wheel on the 'axle being free to rotate thereon. Passing around these three sprocket wheels is aV sprocket chainl 21 provided with a plurality kof buckets or cups 22 each of which is adapt-` ed to receive or pick up a piece of potato as it passes upwardly within the shield. The rear inclined wall 23 at theback end of the wa on body is supplied at its lower end with a s iding gate or valve 24:` pushed downwardly by a spring 25. At its lower end the'gate or valve 24 has a depending lip 26 which is engaged by the buckets as they pass around the sprocket wheel 20 on axle 17, and is temporarily pushed upwardlv toallow the'buckets to pass into the bod of the vehicle. a As is obvious,` the object o this gate or valve is to prevent the pieces'of potato from .escapin through the opening which must necessari y be pro vided for the entrance ofthe buckets into the wagon body. Y

In the forward part of the shield or hood 16 assing I provide a pair of shafts 27 and 28 eachl e uipped with a sprocket wheel v29 around chain 30 supplied with a number of saucershaped rece ptaclcs or pockets 31 adapted to receive the pieces of potato as they are dropped from the buckets or cups 22 when they turn around the top shaft 19. As is clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, the saucer-like receptacles 31 are located on the chain 30 so as to come between the buckets 22 as they descend on the substantially-vertical front stretch or length of the chain 21. In order to facilitate the filling of the buckets 22 with the pieces of otato during their upward travel on the )ack inclined stretch of the chain 21 in the wagon-body, they are mounted on the chain in staggered relation, as is clearly shown in Fics. 2, 3 and 4, and the re ceptacles 31 which ace upwardly on the rear stretch of chain 30 are made sufficiently large to receive the pieces of potato delivered thereto from all ofthe cups or buckets 22.

Each link of the chain 21 which is provided with one of the buckets or .cups has'an outwardly-extended platform or shelf 32 to which is pivoted at 3,3 and 34 the'two halves or parts 35 and 36 of the bucket, each part having a flared side wall 37 and a flat bottom 38, the two jlsits 38 of the pair of companion sections of t e bucket being supplied with a few intermeshing gear teeth 39. As is illustrated, the part 3.5 ofthe bucket has a lip which internally voverla s the adjacent portion of the part 36 an helps maintain the parts in ro er relation. It will be obvious that wit t 's construction the turning of eitherpart of they bucket on its pivot correspondingly rotates the other part on its pivot, thereby rendering the adjustment uniform for both halves of the bucket. In order to hold the sections of the pockets or buckets in adjusted position, I provide the floor or bottom wall with a washer 41 which overlaps the .parts 38,' and bolt or screw this washer to the platform or shelf 33 by means of'a screw or-bolt 42.

The wheel 11 is rotatably mounted on an adjustable cranked axle 43, while its companion wheel 12 is fixed Ito the straight shaft or axle 17 suitably mounted in bearings of the wagon frame. As is illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the tongue 14 is connected tov the axle 17 by a pair of bent bars 45 having hubs 46 at their rear ends surrounding the axle. Loosely mounted on the axle 17 so -as to be capable of rotation thereon is a pair of sprocket Wheels 47 and 48 of different sizes rigidly secured together. The shaft 18 at one end is equipped with a pair of sprocket wheels 49 'and 50 in alinement with the pair 47-48 and a sprocket chain 51 which may be made to coact with eitherof the pair of sprocket wheels and transmit the rotation of gear 47 and 48 to the shaft 18, thereby causmg the pro er movement. of the feeding chain 21 an its buckets. A sprocket chain 52 passes around a sprocket wheel 52 on the opposite end of shaft 18 (Figs. 1 and 2), beneath a similar wheel 521 on the adjacent end of shaft 28 and around an idler 52. By this means shaft 28 and its sprocket wheel 29 are revolved, thereby causing the proper travel of chain 30 and its pockets or receptacles 31. A clutch element 53 keyed to and slidable on the axle 17 and controlled by the handle 54 near seat 13 may be thrown into and out of operative relation with the pair of gears 47,

48 loosely mounted on the axle lso that the chains may be made to travel or not, as the operator desires.

A furrow opener or small plow 55 is mounted on the machine in front of the delivery chain 30 and is connected at its upper end to a bell-cranklever 56 ivoted at 57 and su plied with a locking og 58 which may fie thrust into or removed from any one of the notches of an adjacent se ment 59 to maintain the -opener 55 at 51e proper height. Back of the chain 30 the two-wheeled machine has 'a pair of covering disks 60 suitably supported and adapted to cover the ieces of potato with earth after they have geen deivered by the receptacles 31 of chain 30 into the furrow opened by the opener 55.v

It will be readily understood that the body 10 of the planter is 'filled with pieces-of cut potatoes of substantially uniform size, and

that with the clutch element 53 thrown into y operative relation with the sprocket wheels on vthe axle the feeding and delivering chains 21 and 30, respectively, are caused to travel around their shafts and sprocket wheels, the buckets or cups 22 as they enter the bottom -of the bod pushin Jr back the valve or gate 24 and eac being fiIled with a single piece of potato, which is carried upwardly around the shaft 19 and then dropped into one of the receptacles or pockets 31 of shaft 30 which conveys it downwardly and drops it near the earth into the furrow. If a different kind or grade of potato is to be used so that the pieces are of different size from what the buckets are adjusted to receive, it may be necessary to adjust the parts of the buckets or cups 22 so that each will take up only one piece of potato as it passes through the reservoir or supply of cut'pot-atoes in the wagon body. A variation in the speed of feed and delivery may be secured by shifting chains 51 and 52 to the other pairs of coperating sprocket wheels.

Instead of having the `buckets 22 on a singlechain 21 staggered as is shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, I may use two sprocket chains 61 arranged side by side each supplied with a plurality of unstaggered cups or buckets 22.

receive the ieces of j otato delivered to them from any o the buc ets 22 on the two feeding chains.

Although in some adjusted positions of the parts of the cups or buckets 22 there may be a gap or opening between the adjacent walls 37 of the two parts below the lip 40, this opening does no harm since it is not large enough to permit the escape of the pieces of potato held in the bucket.

Various minor mechanical changes may be made in the structure shown and described without departure from the substance of my invention and without sacriiicing its beneiits and advantages, since my invention is not limited to the precise structural features and details shown and described.

I claim:

1. In a potato planter or similar device,

the combination a compartment adapted to contain pieces of potato, a feeding chain, and buckets or cups on said cham each adapted to pass into said com artment and receive or pick up a piece o potato, said -buckets or cups being staggered to facilitate their iilling by the pieces of potato, substantially as described.

2. In a potato lanter or similar device, the combination o a compartment adapted to contain pieces of potatoes, a feeding chain,

-buckets or cups on said chain each adapted to pass into said compartment and receive or pick up a piecev of potato, and a delivery chain carrying pockets or receptacles adapted to receive JIpieces of otato from the buckets or cups o said fee ing chain and deliver them near the ground, substantially as described.

3. In a potato lanter or similar device, the combinationo a compartment adapted to contain pieces of potatoes, a feeding chain, buckets or cups on said chain each adapted to enter said com artment and receive or pick up a piece o potato, said buckets or cups being staggered to facilitate their filling by the pieces o potato, and a delivery chain carrying pockets or receptaclesy ada ted to recelve the pieces of potato from the uckets or cups of said feeding chain and deliver them near the ground, substantially as de- `scribed.

adapted to pass into said compartment and receive or pick up one. or more of said articles, said buckets or cups being staggered to facilitate their lling by said articles, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a conveyer, one or more conveying buckets or cups mounted on and movable with said conveyer, the size of the mouths of said buckets or cups being adjustable, and means to maintain the adjustment of said buckets or cups, substantially as described.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a conveyer and one or more conveying buckets or cups mounted on and movable with said conveyer, each of said buckets or cups comprising a plurality of pivoted parts adapted to be turned on their pivots to vary the 'ca acity of the bucket or cup, and means to ho d said parts in adjusted position, substantially as described.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination-of a conveyer and one or more conveying buckets or cups mounted on and movable with said conveyer, each of said buckets or cups comprising a pair of pivoted parts geared together, whereby the capacity or size of the buckets may be Varie and means to hold said parts in adjusted position, substantially as described.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination of a conveyer and one or more conveying buckets or cups mounted on and movable with said conveyer, each of said buckets or cups comprising a pair of pivoted parts, thel ca acity or size of the buckets be- 1ng adjustab e by turning said parts on their ivots, and a lip onI one of said parts overapping the other, substantially as described. 9. In a device of the character described, the combination of a conveying chain having an outstanding ledge or shelf, and a bucket or cup mountedon said ledge or shelf, said bucket or cup comprising a pair of parts pivoted on said ledge or shelf and each having gear teeth meshing with those of the other, a washer overlapping the bottom walls or iioors of said parts, and a screw threaded member securing said Washer to said ledge or shelf, substantially as described.

ERNbT Gr. SCHREIBER.

. Witnesses:

FREDERICK C. GOODWIN, WALTER M. FULLER. 

